By Dana Karni, Lex Harvey and Kara Fox, CNN
(CNN) — The bodies of six Israeli hostages have been retrieved from Gaza during an overnight military operation in Khan Younis, Israeli authorities said Tuesday, as the latest ceasefire negotiations continue.
In a joint announcement, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and the Israeli Security Agency (ISA) named them as Yoram Metzger, Alexander Dancyg, Avraham Munder, Chaim Peri, Nadav Popplewell and Yagev Buchshtab.
All but Munder had been announced dead in recent months by the Israeli military.
“Tonight our forces returned the bodies of six of our hostages who were held by the murderous terrorist organization Hamas,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement on Tuesday, thanking those involved in the operation for their “bravery and determined action.”
“Our hearts ache for the terrible loss,” he said.
Israel’s Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said that the IDF and ISA had entered Hamas tunnels in a “complex operation” to retrieve the hostages’ bodies.
“We will continue working to achieve the goals of this war – returning the hostages to Israel and dismantling Hamas,” Gallant said on X.
A joint statement by the ISA and IDF said the operation was “enabled by precise intelligence” from the two agencies’ intelligence units, and the IDF Intelligence Directorate Hostage Headquarters.
There are currently 109 Israeli hostages being held in Gaza, including 36 believed to be dead, according to data from the Israeli Government Press Office.
Munder, 79, Metzger, 80, and Peri, 80, were all residents of Kibbutz Nir Oz, near the Gaza border, where they were captured during Hamas’ October 7 attacks, according to statements from the kibbutz.
Munder was taken along with his wife, daughter and grandson, who were later freed during a temporary truce between Israel and Hamas in November. Munder’s son, Roee, was killed during the attack.
Nine-year-old Ohad Munder told Israel’s public broadcaster Kan 11 on Tuesday that the death of his grandfather and the other hostages “shouldn’t have happened.”
“There have already been many times when there were negotiations for (a) deal… and then they say no – and in the end they don’t want it, and always regret it at the last minute. All the hostages could have returned alive even on the first day. They could have brought back grandfather and all the other hostages,” Ohad said.
Metzger’s wife Tami was also kidnapped and later released in the November truce.
Popplewell, who was 51 when abducted, and Buchshtab, 35, were taken from Kibbutz Nirim, the kibbutz said in a statement.
In May, Hamas’ military wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, claimed Popplewell, a dual British-Israeli citizen, had died more than a month earlier of wounds he sustained after an Israeli airstrike hit the place where he was held. CNN was not able to independently verify the claim by Hamas.
The IDF said in July that Buchshtab was believed to have been held in Khan Younis and died several months ago, while the IDF was operating there. It did not detail the circumstances of the death at the time.
About 1,200 Israelis were killed and some 250 others kidnapped during Hamas’ October 7 attacks on Israel, according to Israeli authorities.
More than 40,000 Palestinians have been killed and more than 92,000 injured during Israel’s war in Gaza, according to the health ministry in the enclave.
Ceasefire talks continue
The news comes as negotiations for a ceasefire continue, with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken saying that Netanyahu agreed on Monday to a US “bridging proposal” for a deal after the pair met in Tel Aviv.
Mediators presented the bridging proposal to Israel and Hamas last week to close the remaining gaps of disagreement between both sides, a joint statement between the United States, Qatar and Egypt said.
Blinken said that the next step in the ceasefire talks “is for Hamas to say yes.”
He arrived in Egypt on Tuesday for talks with top officials to “get the latest from them on what they are hearing” from Hamas, Blinken said. Further high-level negotiations are expected to resume as soon as this week in either the Egyptian or Qatari capital.
Meanwhile, Hamas issued a statement rebuking US President Joe Biden’s comments about the group “backing off” from a ceasefire deal.
Speaking to reporters outside the Democratic National Convention early Tuesday, Biden said: “Israel says they can work it out, they’re prepared – but I was told Hamas is now backing off. It remains to be seen, we’re going to keep pushing.”
Hamas said in a Tuesday statement that “Biden and Blinken’s statements are misleading claims, and do not reflect the true position of the movement, which is keen to reach a cessation of aggression.”
“We consider these statements a renewed American green light for the government of Zionist extremists to commit more crimes against defenseless civilians, and in pursuit of the goals of exterminating and displacing our people,” it added.
Hamas has previously indicated it will not accept the latest proposal, saying on Sunday that the latest proposal doesn’t include a permanent ceasefire and introduced new conditions in the prisoner exchange, among other issues.
In a statement on Sunday, the militant group placed blame on Netanyahu for “obstructing” a deal from being reached.
The Hostage and Missing Families Forum said Tuesday that the recovery of hostage bodies provided “necessary closure,” and called for urgency to finalize a deal.
“The Israeli government, with the assistance of mediators, must do everything in its power to finalize the deal currently on the table,” it said in a statement.
Still, Israel’s military operation in Gaza continues, with at least 12 people killed and 15 injured on Tuesday, according to the Gaza Civil Defense, after an Israeli airstrike targeted a school where authorities said thousands of displaced people were sheltering from violence.
Gaza Civil Defense spokesperson Mahmoud Basal told CNN that the majority of those killed and injured in the strike on the Mustafa Hafez school were women and children and that a number of people were still under the rubble.
The IDF said in a statement that the Israeli Air Force had “conducted a precise strike on terrorists who were operating within a Hamas command and control center” inside the school and that “numerous steps were taken to mitigate the risk of harming civilians, including the use of precise munitions, aerial surveillance and additional intelligence.”
Israeli forces have repeatedly targeted schools used as shelters for civilians in Gaza, claiming that Hamas is operating inside the compounds.
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